Members of the Baltimore Ukrainian community feel helpless as they watch the horrible images of the Malaysia Airlines plane crash thousands of miles away and as they watch what they call an increasingly bold Russia.

Filing out of St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church Friday night, some in Baltimore's close-knit Ukrainian community expressed frustration and fear for family.

"Our relatives live in western Ukraine; however, nobody is safe until this is resolved," said Marta Iwashko, of Baltimore.

For this community, the territorial fight between Russia and Ukraine is one thing, but for a passenger plane full of people from around the world to be shot down brings a new level of fear for what could happen next to a country they still love from afar.

"Basically, our hands our tied. We can only give them moral support through prayer," said George Iwashko, of Baltimore.

"Only if (Russian President Vladimir) Putin takes an active role from pressure from the United States and European Union and the rest of the world, I think it will ever stop," Marta Iwashko said.

Peter Charchalis and his daughter, Ivanka, flew out of Ukraine just hours before the Malaysian airliner was shot down by a missile that came from an area controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

"That could have been our plane. My 7-year-old and I could have been on that plane, and I think this madman needs to be stopped," Charchalis said, referring to Putin.

The majority of the passengers aboard the Malaysian airliner were Dutch. The embassy of the Netherlands in Washington, D.C., will place a condolence register in its lobby on Monday and Tuesday. The public is invited to sign the condolence register from 10 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.